Aeronautical team scores at NASA launch

Tarleton State University

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEWednesday, April 24, 2013

STEPHENVILLE, Texas— The Tarleton Aeronautical Team had continued success April 21 at NASA’s prestigious University Student Launch Initiative in Alabama where they competed against 36 other powerhouse university teams. Tarleton was the only Texas university competing.

Tarleton won the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Payload Award and the Best Team Spirit Award, two out of the seven awards presented at an awards banquet. The team won an honorable mention in the educational outreach award.

The top prize winner will be announced in May.

The teams were required to launch sophisticated rockets of their own design and construction, complete with working science payloads, to a height of at least one mile into the skies over north Alabama.

“The Science Mission Directorate Payload Award is the big one,” said Dr. Bowen Brawner, math professor and the team’s adviser. “It was so very competitive and it was amazing when they announced Tarleton State University ... I believe we shocked the world. There were 37 universities and almost 1,000 people at the awards banquet. They had no idea who TSU was but today they do. They also presented the team with a $2,000 oscilloscope for winning the SMD. The hardware guys were ecstatic.”

The NASA launch follows Tarleton’s showing at the June 2012 CanSat competition, a similar international competition at which Tarleton placed sixth out of 41 teams.